'Off on a Tangent' Challenges the Conventions of Architectural Composition

Beholding 'Off on a Tangent' for a mere few seconds is enough to make one's eyes fly out of focus. The conch shell shaped building appears to be impossibly balanced and swathed in an incredibly complex skin that dizzies the mind of the observer.

But once one's vision adjusts and his head accepts that this twister of a tower is stable and sound, he can appreciate the architectural phenomenon before him. Carmelia Chiang took a monumental risk with this project and modeled her Tokyo Fashion House from an elaborate system of lines and forms that only just touch. 'Off on a Tangent' breaks the ideal of having built elements exist as separates or overlapping masses, yet in the expectation of aesthetic awkwardness one discovers tremendous harmony.